Rose O'Neill and Bonniebrook Museum

The gardens are looking beautiful at Bonniebrook Homestead! Special thanks to all the Master Gardeners who have donated plants and volunteered to regularly make improvements to our gardens! Now is the perfect time to visit as the leaves are turning golden and the gardens are thriving!! We close for the season on October 31. Days and hours open are Wed-Sat 10:00a.m.-4:00pm.

Saturday, September 12, 2020 2:00 pm Rose O’Neill: From Poverty to World-Renowned Artist, Suffragist & Activist by Susan Scott, President of Bonniebrook Historical Society You can join us in person at the Historic Fox Theatre or virtually as Susan Scott shares Rose O’Neill’s courageous fight for women’s rights and suffrage. This presentation will be through Zoom if you choose virtual. Free to members, $10.00 for non-members. Reserve your ticket here. This event is coordin...ated by the Springfield, Missouri History Museum on the Square. If planning on attending the Zoom presentation or reserving tickets to attend at the Fox Theatre, you can log onto historymuseumonthesquare.org to sign up. We look forward to presenting some of the little known historically documented challenges and success of Rose O'Neill's participation, as an activist, in the women's movements that included suffrage and More! The Historic Fox Theatre is very nice and large that will accommodate social distancing!

Making History at Bonniebrook Announcing an exciting new chapter in the history of Bonniebrook! On June 19, 2020, the Bonniebrook Historical Society purchased from Bonniebrook, L.L.C. (which is owned by the family of Clay and Jean Cantwell) a tract of land that will open up new, exciting opportunities for BHS. The 15.7 acres of land includes the tour home, visitor center, cemetery area including it’s access bridge and walking trails, root cellar, spring, parking lot, gara...ge, gardens, two walking bridges over the spring (in the same location as the O’Neill’s original bridges) and several hiking trails on the east side of the spring. The purchase agreement was made with favorable terms and conditions for BHS, including a low annual interest payment and deferred principal payment in 15 years. The surrounding 168 acres remain under ownership of Bonniebrook, L.L.C. In 1894, Rose O’Neill was nineteen when she first visited this homestead. She said, My extravagant heart was tangled in it for good. Bonniebrook is a special place that shares an important history of her accomplishments made while living at Bonniebrook. Important O’Neill art, writing, and creation of her Kewpie character all happened at Bonniebrook!! BHS is honored to now own this tract of historic Bonniebrook land. Special thanks to our Master Gardeners of the Ozarks volunteers who have diligently sculpted our Bonniebrook Gardens. They studied Rose O'Neill's journals and have re-created the gardens to reflect the same location of Meemie's Rose Garden (Rose's mother's name was Meemie) and other shrubs and flowering plants that Rose mentions in her journals. Enjoy these photos of our Bonniebrook Gardens. Our volunteers also repaired and painted the front porch of the Bonniebrook Tour Home! See photo!

The gardens are looking beautiful at Bonniebrook Homestead! Special thanks to all the Master Gardeners who have donated plants and volunteered to regularly make improvements to our gardens! Now is the perfect time to visit as the leaves are turning golden and the gardens are thriving!! We close for the season on October 31. Days and hours open are Wed-Sat 10:00a.m.-4:00pm.

Happy Birthday to Rose O'Neill. She was born 6/25/1874 and we continue to celebrate her lifetime of achievements that included contributions of art, writings, poetry, activism for women including participating in the suffrage movements, and creating her loving character, Kewpie, that continues to warm the hearts of many..... !!

Saturday, September 12, 2020 2:00 pm Rose O’Neill: From Poverty to World-Renowned Artist, Suffragist & Activist by Susan Scott, President of Bonniebrook Historical Society You can join us in person at the Historic Fox Theatre or virtually as Susan Scott shares Rose O’Neill’s courageous fight for women’s rights and suffrage. This presentation will be through Zoom if you choose virtual. Free to members, $10.00 for non-members. Reserve your ticket here. This event is coordin...ated by the Springfield, Missouri History Museum on the Square. If planning on attending the Zoom presentation or reserving tickets to attend at the Fox Theatre, you can log onto historymuseumonthesquare.org to sign up. We look forward to presenting some of the little known historically documented challenges and success of Rose O'Neill's participation, as an activist, in the women's movements that included suffrage and More! The Historic Fox Theatre is very nice and large that will accommodate social distancing!

Making History at Bonniebrook Announcing an exciting new chapter in the history of Bonniebrook! On June 19, 2020, the Bonniebrook Historical Society purchased from Bonniebrook, L.L.C. (which is owned by the family of Clay and Jean Cantwell) a tract of land that will open up new, exciting opportunities for BHS. The 15.7 acres of land includes the tour home, visitor center, cemetery area including it’s access bridge and walking trails, root cellar, spring, parking lot, gara...ge, gardens, two walking bridges over the spring (in the same location as the O’Neill’s original bridges) and several hiking trails on the east side of the spring. The purchase agreement was made with favorable terms and conditions for BHS, including a low annual interest payment and deferred principal payment in 15 years. The surrounding 168 acres remain under ownership of Bonniebrook, L.L.C. In 1894, Rose O’Neill was nineteen when she first visited this homestead. She said, My extravagant heart was tangled in it for good. Bonniebrook is a special place that shares an important history of her accomplishments made while living at Bonniebrook. Important O’Neill art, writing, and creation of her Kewpie character all happened at Bonniebrook!! BHS is honored to now own this tract of historic Bonniebrook land. Special thanks to our Master Gardeners of the Ozarks volunteers who have diligently sculpted our Bonniebrook Gardens. They studied Rose O'Neill's journals and have re-created the gardens to reflect the same location of Meemie's Rose Garden (Rose's mother's name was Meemie) and other shrubs and flowering plants that Rose mentions in her journals. Enjoy these photos of our Bonniebrook Gardens. Our volunteers also repaired and painted the front porch of the Bonniebrook Tour Home! See photo!

Happy Birthday to Rose O'Neill. She was born 6/25/1874 and we continue to celebrate her lifetime of achievements that included contributions of art, writings, poetry, activism for women including participating in the suffrage movements, and creating her loving character, Kewpie, that continues to warm the hearts of many..... !!

During this National Nurses Month, we recognize the many contributions and sacrifices of nurses during wars and pandemics such as the COVID-19 virus. In the early years of World War I, there was a great need for medical support for wounded Allied soldiers. Although America was not yet directly involved in the conflict, American Red Cross nurses volunteered to go overseas to treat wounded soldiers and provide person-to-person proof of America’ willingness to support its al...lies. By spring 1918, the U.S. Army had stationed nearly one million men in France. Each day, 10,000 more arrived. With them came an Army medical corps to care for them. With only 403 nurses in the Army Nurse Corps when the war began, the Surgeon General called for volunteers. In addition, during the latter part of World War I, the American Red Cross provided medical services for military personnel. 23,800 nurses volunteered for service. The American Red Cross sent out an urgent request for knitted goods such as socks, sweaters, etc. for American soldiers. By mid-1918, the need for socks was desperate, and each Red Cross chapter in the U.S. was expected to produce 55,000 socks every three months. The Red Cross posters included Our Boys Need Sox Knit Your Bit. The soldiers were exposed to wet and cold conditions in the trenches. Their boots were apparently minimally water repellant! The October,1918 issue of Good Housekeeping included The Kewpies Prepare for Winter. In this story, Rose O’Neill enlisted the assistance of her Kewpies to knit socks and sweaters for the soldiers. The last frame of the story has the Kewpies delivering their wagon load of socks and sweaters to the Red Cross nurse. In late 1918, an influenza pandemic hit the United States and most of the rest of the world. It claimed an estimated 22 million lives worldwide and U.S. deaths were believed to reach 500,000. The Red Cross worked as an active auxiliary of the U.S. Public Health Service providing nurses and motor corps members to assist the sick and dying until the pandemic died out in 1919. (Information taken from the American Red Cross article World War I and the American Red Cross. And From the Archives Red Cross Nurses in World War I.) THANK YOU NURSES!! See more

With great sadness, our Bonniebrook Garden Tour scheduled for June 13th has been postponed indefinitely and possibly will not take place until 2021. This decision was a very difficult one but the health and safety of our visitors is our number one priority. And the COVID-19 virus is so very dangerous. Bonniebrook Historical Society is considering an event that celebrates the History of Bonniebrook and it would possibly take place later in the fall. However, it will only take place if we can be confident of the safety of our visitors and volunteers. In the meantime, we plan to post photos from Bonniebrook so everyone can enjoy the beautiful gardens from the safety of their computers!

During this time of the Coronavirus, we give thanks for the diligent and caring work of doctors, nurses, and all health care individuals. We also share our condolences to those families who have lost loved ones to this horrid virus. This is a time that reminds us of the many infectious diseases that have been encountered in the past and the marks they left on families. Rose Cecil O’Neill lost a young two years old brother, Edward, who died after succumbing to a cold and f...ever. Also, her younger brother, Jamie, was lost to the contagious smallpox. In 1905, Jamie had traveled via train from Springfield, Missouri to Columbia, Missouri to take an examination for a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford England. On his way home afterwards he had helped a sick woman onto the train, and in eighteen days he was dead of smallpox. This had such an impact on Rose that she paid to have all her Bonniebrook neighbors receive the smallpox vaccination. It might have also possibly influenced her assistance in educating about Tuberculosis, also an infectious pandemic disease. In 1929, using the powerful popularity of her Kewpie character, Rose prepared visual lessons in assisting with the fight against Tuberculosis. Her four illustrations were included in her Kewpie Health Book and sent to schools and hospitals sharing the importance of cleanliness, getting plenty of rest, exercise, and eating right. The Visiting Nurses Association took those illustrations and created large posters that were distributed to schools and hospitals. The emphasis of cleanliness during the Tuberculosis pandemic is now known to also be important in defeating the spread of the Coronavirus! As we are all reminded, Wash Your Hands and observe social distancing. Bonniebrook remains closed to visitors and will re-open once it has been announced that businesses and public venues in our area can safely resume opening to the public.

Thanks to our volunteers, Bonniebrook is looking beautiful! The Master Gardeners of the Ozarks volunteers have worked very hard to get our gardens and visitor areas improved. Many hours and days during the cold weather, they accomplished their goal of transforming Bonniebrook with new gardens, new photo op stations, to get ready for our June 13th "Bohemian Garden Rhapsody Tour." Over 16 decorated gardens will be on the tour. Here are a few photos to show the amazing progress. Thank you to all our Bonniebrook Historical Society and Master Gardener Volunteers!

March 28, 2020 BONNIEBROOK CLOSED DUE TO COVID-19ENJOY OUR SPRING PHOTOS! In response to the newest public health recommendations from Missouri government, ... the Board of Directors of the International Rose O’Neill Club has made the difficult decision to cancel Kewpiesta. As a result of our BHS priority to our members, visitors, volunteers, and loyal supporters, our BHS Board of Directors has made the decision to cancel our Banquet (April 22) and Open House (April 25.) In addition, we are monitoring the Missouri public health recommendations that will delay our scheduled opening until May 1st or later. Many of the Branson and Springfield area museums are currently hopeful that they can open sometime in May. For the safety of our visitors, we plan to increase cleaning and disinfecting of all public areas in the Visitor Center and if planning to visit Bonniebrook, please call ahead (417-561-1509) or check the information area on our website, www.roseoneill.org or send an email to our email address [email protected] to make sure that we will be safely open, in May, for the public on the day of your visit. Our cancellations of events and delay in opening to the public is an attempt to meet Missouri recommendations that are efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in our community. The current recommendations include canceling or postponing all events with attendance over 10 people for the next month and possibly into May. Therefore, our planned Missouri Master Gardener’s Bohemian Garden Rhapsody Tour for June 13th remains on our schedule until further notice. We appreciate all our loyal members, supporters, volunteers and visitors and ask for your continued patience and understanding as we navigate quickly changing public service operating guidelines during this unprecedented public health crisis. With All Our Best Wishes, Susan K. Scott, President President, Bonniebrook Historical Society

The Kewpies bring a special Valentine's Day Message to all our friends!

2020 is the 100th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote throughout the United States of America. We celebrate Rose O’Neill’s contribution of her suffrage art to the National Woman Suffrage Association. O’Neill’s illustrations were utilized on their published posters, flyers, and postcards that were distributed across the United States. The National Woman Suffrage Association honored Rose O’Neill wi...th her representation of all women illustrators and artists in the New York City suffrage event held in 1917. In that event, O’Neill carried the Illustrator banner. For that event, the National Woman Suffrage Association selected outstanding women to carry the banners representing the many careers previously not available to women. In the early years of O’Neill’s illustration career, she was asked by the publications to only use her last name in order to hide the fact that the magazine had hired a woman artist. O’Neill was the first woman illustrator for many national magazines. Utilizing the huge popularity of the Kewpies, Rose O’Neill’s suffrage art often included her Kewpie characters! See more

Happy New Year 2020. All our Best Wishes from Bonniebrook Historical Society!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! WELCOME 2020! ALL OUR BEST WISHES FROM Bonniebrook Historical Society!

SAVE THE DATE! The Society of Ozarkian Hillcrofters is dedicated to the preservation of Ozarks History. They are a non-profit organization and are hosting CABIN FEVER 2020 on Friday January 24, 2020 7PM to 9PM. This is a Variety Music Show and Fundraising Event. Plan to attend a fun event!